The Best Sex Ever Doesn't Happen Until You're Older; Sexual Peak Is A Myth
To quote the poignant Sheryl Underwood, comedian and co-host of The Talk: "Sexually? Your late 40s and 50s? The bomb!" And, a new survey (sort of) seconds that.
LoveHoney, an adult toy manufacturer in Atlanta, surveyed 1,000 men and women between the ages 18 and 65 about their sexual peak, or the period of time they think they have the best sex ever. Prior research would suggest women peak when they’re 30 years old and men peak when they’re 18. However, women taking the survey reported they peak at 26. Men, on the other hand, peak at 32.
“Like most things, sex gets better the more you do it and the more practiced you are at it,” Tracey Cox, sex and relationship expert, told the Daily Mail. “It takes time to learn how to control their orgasms and to fathom the complex female sexual system. I suspect when they say ‘best sex,’ a lot of men mean it's when they felt most confident as lovers. This reinforces what we’ve always known: It's not about quantity, it is about quality.”
Neal Sanford, co-owner of LoveHoney, told the NY Daily News there may be a peak for quantity of sex, but not for quality — an idea they’re actually not the first to suggest. In fact, a 2012 study published in the American Journal of Medicine found 61 percent of women between the ages 40 and 99 were satisfied with their sex lives whether they had a sex partner or frequent sexual activity.
In addition to busting sexual peak as a myth, whichever way a person means it, sex as we get older continues to be suggested as the best sex ever. As Cox mentioned, middle age and older is when men and women are more confident and comfortable in their bodies and abilities. Bodies may be in their prime in their 20s, but this doesn't have to affect a person's sex life.
A 2007 survey published in The New England Journal of Medicine surveyed over 3,000 men and women around the country: 73 percent of participants were aged 57 to 64, 53 percent were aged 64 to 75, and 26 percent were over the age of 75. The results? Active seniors reported having sex two to three times a month — or more. And more than half of those aged 57 to 75 still gave and received oral sex, as well as a third of those 75- to 85-year-olds.
Putting, ahem, to bed the idea men and women have a single chance for a quality sex life is a step in the right direction. Next is to crush the idea the best sex ever has a shelf life. It clearly doesn't.